Invasion of the Replicas

Just four weeks until the second annual Omaha Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival. Do you have your memberships yet?

There are lots of things happening this year. I should know, I have been working on the programming schedule for the last few weeks and that baby is about to be put to bed. Some of the events I have already talked about that require you to register ahead of time.

Time is running out to sign up for the Star Wars Miniatures: Hoth Scenerio battle scheduled for Friday evening. If you ever thought you could hold back the Empire on a frozen planet, now is your chance. Sign up today by dropping Darth Moose a line at mailto:Darth_Moose74@yahoo.com?subject=OSFest.

Also, there is the Writer’s Workshop on Sunday morning moderated by Odyssey Writing Workshop graduate Matthew Rotundo. If you want to try this, check out the workshop guidelines at: http://www.osfes.org/2009OSFESTWritingWorkshopInformation.pdf.

But as we get closer to the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and the kickoff of OSFest 2, more events and opportunities are coming together. Moose Mendolia and his R2-Central Builders Club will have more droids than ever at OSFest this year. But along with them we hope to have another robot on display, a replica of the B9 robot from the 1960’s Lost In Space TV series built locally by Brad Edmonds. Go to his website where he has documented his endeavors and accomplishments. And if that wasn’t enough, Brad has also replicated the Knight Industries Two Thousand (KITT) muscle car from the first and second seasons of the 1980’s Knight Rider TV series. It will be on display in the hotel’s back parking lot. And his friend, Jeremiah Keller will be bringing a third and fourth season version of the vehicle that he has recreated, so the two can make a joint appearance. Don’t forget to bring your camera.

Conventions After Hours!

Okay you’ve spent the day at the convention, attended several panels, spent money in the dealer’s room, bid on several pieces of art in the art show, and faced down the hungry troll (I'm not talking about your girl friend) in the gaming room. So what do you do after all these activities have wrapped up for the night?

Room parties!!!

Most science fiction conventions today block a certain number of rooms on a floor isolated from the rest of the hotel. These rooms are for people who wish to host a party in their room after the convention activities have wound down. Since they are separate from non-convention goers staying at the hotel noise associated with party activity won’t bother them and party-goers are freer to engage in animated discussions.

So exactly what is a room party? It is whatever the host wants it to be. A lot of conventions host room parties at other conventions to help promote their own convention, book publishers host rooms parties to promote their current lineup of books. Themed parties are also popular. A couple I have seen in the last year have ranged from Vampire, to Battlestar Galactica (both versions in the same party), and A tribute to Hammer Films.

What goes on in the party is again up to the host. Do you serve alcohol, jello shots, food, ice cream? It’s up to the host. Do you play videos, music, party games? You guessed it; it’s up to the host. This year’s Artist Guests of Honor at OSFest 2; John & Denise Garner, typically host a Karaoke party room. So if you like to sing, be there or be a trapezoid.

How do you go about hosting one? First book a room at the hotel, either tell the hotel staff that you wish to be on the party floor or coordinate with the hotel liaison for the convention. Decide what you want to do at the party – why are you throwing it? If it’s your un-birthday make sure you have a cake. Lay in the supplies you need to make that them work, then open your door at the appointed hour and you will have people coming to you. Even if you are not throwing a party, having a hotel room means you can stay at an interesting one longer than if you had to drive home each night.

Are parties just excuses to get drunk? No! Make that; Hell No! Most hosts keep an eye on attendees these days and will cut someone off if they look like they have had too much. Every host is responsible to obey the laws of the state they are in regarding the serving liquor. No one under 21 – and badge coding isn't good enough. Most responsible hosts card younger looking partiers to protect themselves. You are responsible to make sure anyone you serve to is not already falling down drunk. Both of which are not hard regulations to stay within with a little use of common sense.

But what parties are is another chance for like minded individuals to get together in a social setting and enjoy each other company. Talk about what they had done during the daylight hours of the convention. Kibitz about the videos or songs being played, or show off their talent, or lack of, at the Karaoke machine. Best of all, if you stay at a party too long and are too tired to drive home, you just have to go back to your hotel room and bed. Unless you’re the one hosting the party.

Date Change * NEBRASKON'S: BBQ has changed its date!

This just in: the folks planning the First NebrasKon BBQ, Cosplay, and Frisbee Event have changed the date. Since May 24th this year is the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, and so as not to interfere with people’s family plans, they have moved this event back a week. It is now scheduled for Sunday May 31st. Everything else stays the same, including the rainout date of June 7th. This is great news for a lot of the OSFest 2 staff, as we will be in Kansas City this weekend for the annual SF/F convention there: ConQuest.

For more information about the BBQ, please scroll down to my earlier blog. It is still OSFES’ intention to promote fannish activities in whatever their format is. If your group has an activity you would like us to point out to people, please point it out to us.

OSFest 2 scheduling notes:

There will be two special activities of interest to local groups happening at OSFest this year. The first is a Local Anime Group Roundtable, with the other being an Area Gaming Roundtable. Both of these one hour panels are a time available for local groups to get together and meet each other, as well as promote their activities to people that have never heard about them before. OSFES will supply a moderator for each discussion but otherwise keep this event unformatted. There are lots of groups in the Metro area doing things and the more people know about what is happening, the more they can get involved. If you would like to participate in these discussions, just droop me a line and I will get you on the schedule. Either Anime Roundtable or Gaming Roundtable.

There is still room in both the Star Wars minis Hoth Battle on Friday evening and in the Writer’s Workshop on Sunday morning. Sign up today.

NEBRASKON'S: BBQ, COSPLAY, FRISBEE EVENT

One of the goals of the Omaha Science Fiction Education Society is to bring together all the genre groups in the area, so we can get to know each other. There are a lot of fannish activities available in the area and the more everyone knows what everybody is doing, the more each of us can choose what new activities we’d like to try.

Well OSFES is not the only group with this goal. Anime NebrasKon is sponsoring a fannish get together over Memorial Day Weekend. Sunday, May 24th, from 3 (or 4) PM until dusk, they are hosting a potluck BBQ in the Elmwood Park picnic area. Just look for the people in costume/cosplay in the park. In the event of rain, the BBQ will be rescheduled for June 7th.

Now a potluck means that you bring what you can: soda, chips, a covered dish (but remember unless it can be reheated on a grill, it should be designed to be served cold), a dessert. While they say they will be handling the meat, is there ever enough meat at a BBQ. That would also be an option to bring.

This is for everyone in the fannish community to come together and enjoy some good food, genre conversation, play Fizzbin, er, I mean Frisbee and other games, as well as just a good excuse to cosplay. They have even hinted at an Intergalactic water fight, it would probably be a good idea to bring your water armor. Elmwood was one of the first parks in Omaha to put in a Frisbee course. They are still looking for activities for the day, so if you have any ideas or suggestions please send them to: CCOMBS@RUSTYECKFORD.COM

After the event, everyone will be heading over to the Family Fun Center for some DDR and other games. Yes, the organizer is a confessed gaming addict, but we all have our own vices.

The NebrasKon staff is looking to make this a bi-weekly activity. Not necessarily a BBQ every time but something to keep bringing everyone together so we can get to know each other better. They may also schedule some smaller events in between these large type ones so keep watching the Gateway for announcements. Once a month they will bring this event to Lincoln, NE. They started Anime NebrasKon there after all and it is time Omaha and Lincoln fans got to know each other better.

So if you are in town, please check this out and meet all the new friends you didn’t know you had.

OSFest 2 scheduling notes:

There is still room in both the Star Wars minis Hoth Battle on Friday evening and in the Writer’s Workshop on Sunday morning. Sign up today.

The Great Root Beer Bomb

Last year the con suite or hospitality room at OSFest featured a keg of 1919 Root Beer. It seemed to be so popular that one of Omaha's more popular Brewmeisters decided to rise to the challenge of preparing home-brewed root beer for OSFest 2. He promises that it will be ready on schedule and tapped shortly after opening ceremonies on Friday night.

Yet it was not without its trials and tribulations. The first batch brewed up was turned into a Root Beer Bomb when a hose connection failed during pressurization. But it was not a total loss; important lessons were learned from that serendipitous mistake. Lessons that he is now willing to share with you.

Check out the “Lessons I learned from home-brewing Root Beer” at www.osfes.org/HomeBrewLessons.htm. Then pass these on to all your friends that they may avoid the same misfortune as our Brewmeister. May he ferment in peace!

OSFest 2's Writer's Workshop

A guest blog by Trudy Myers.

Living in Omaha, Nebraska, involves a number of challenges to those of us who want to write. The one we'll consider today is the difficulty of finding other writers who can help improve one's writing.

I've tried finding local writer's work groups since the one I had fell apart in the 90s. Sometimes, a bookstore will host one, but those are seldom very satisfying. When you write fantasy and science fiction, it's not often that a poet or a romance writer can help you hone your skills. They don't understand the 'rules' of science fiction and fantasy. Maybe they can't get past the fact that they don't understand your science, or maybe they just don't accept the existence of magic.

Been there. Done that.

Even living in the huge Midwest, you can find workshops; either on-line, or by traveling to another city. I've done that, too. Three-hour commute, four-hour workshop, three-hour commute makes for a long day.

You could make arrangements to attend an intensive 6-week course. Okay, I've only done that one on-line.

Or you can attend critique groups and workshops at (some) science fiction conventions. That's the one I do the most of these days.

OSFest is one of those science fiction conventions, and it is held in Omaha in July. It has a writer's workshop associated with it, of the 'critiquing session' variety. It is organized and 'administered' by Matt Rotundo, a local Omaha author. In 2008, it had four participants. To be a participant requires some forethought and preparation, in addition to the desire to write, so this is not for everybody.

If you want to try this, check out the workshop guidlines at: http://www.osfes.org/2009OSFESTWritingWorkshopInformation.pdf and be sure you sign up for the workshop. You can do that by emailing Matt Rotundo at mrotundo@yahoo.com, with "OSFest Writing Workshop" in the subject line. There will be a deadline for sending in a copy of your story to be critiqued, properly formatted. Pretend you are sending this story in to an editor and format appropriately. If you aren't sure what that is, formatting guidelines can be found at http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html

Shortly after that, but before the convention, Matt will send copies of all the stories to each participant. At that point, your job is to read the stories and make notes about them. What didn't work for you, what did? Were there holes in the plot or the characterizations? Was some part unclear, or did a phrase seem particularly well turned? Bring those notes with you to the workshop at the convention.

During the workshop, you'll get a chance to make your observations about everybody else's story. They will comment on yours. Written notes will also be exchanged. Therefore, you'll get a chance to learn in two ways; by studying the work of others, and by having them critique yours.

I'll be there. Hope you will be, too.

Gaming Activities at OSFest 2

This year gaming at OSFest will be a little different. Yes, we will still have the video gaming room on the same floor as the con suite with close to the same number of systems but without the Mature section.

The main difference will be downstairs in the tabletop gaming area. Nuke-con has agreed to come in and sponsor an Aftershock game day for the three days of the convention and along with the Omaha Cavaliers (an official RPGA group) will handle a lot of the general gaming available at the convention.

But Friday night is going to be something special. Moose Mendolia, aka DarthMoose74, the man behind the joystick of R2-CM a.k.a "Patches", is setting up a HUGE Star Wars miniatures adventure for that night along with fellow minis player Jayson Towne. Yes, I understand that the words huge and mini usually don’t go together but you should see what he has planned.

As a member of the Rebel Alliance it will be your duty to defend Hoth. You will be able to build an army of up to 150 player points to help you defend against the attacking Imperial forces. Plus you will be given a unique Rebel random piece before play with special rules attached to it. Of course there are limits to the pieces you can choose from, (go to http://www.osfes.org/gaming.htm and find the link to the rules PDF).

Moose will have all the pieces available if you don’t have everything you need. If you are unfamiliar with the game but would like a free demo, Moose runs Friday night Star Wars minis gaming at Ground Zero in Bellevue from 5pm to 9pm for free – just go to; www.osfes.org/activities.htm and scroll down to the gaming section for details.

There is also a basic online demo of the game system at http://mi.wizards.com/swminis/demo/SW_MinisDemo.html

Moose really needs to know if you are going to play, so drop him an email at mailto:Darth_Moose74@yahoo.com?subject=OSFest if you would like to participate in this unique event.